Ford has cemented its position as the healthiest of Detroit's "big three" carmakers by delivering a $2.7bn (£1.6bn) profit for 2009 as cost cuts, new models and a surplus at its credit arm helped the company to its first year in the black since 2005.

Unlike its rivals General Motors and Chrysler, Ford has neither requested nor received any bailout funds from the US government. Its chief executive, Alan Mulally, said signs of hope were emerging following the sharpest downturn in US vehicle sales since the second world war.

"While the business environment remains difficult, we plan to be profitable for the whole of 2010," said Mulally.

On a conference call with Wall Street analysts, Mulally suggested that there could be opportunities for Ford in Toyota's global recall of millions of vehicles, caused by worries about the safety of accelerators in the Japanese firm's cars.

"It depends how this all plays out and how fast Toyota gets behind it," said Mulally. "But clearly, with a void right now and people needing vehicles, we're going to see more interest in Ford."

For the year as a whole, Ford's carmaking operations were loss-making, with an automotive deficit of $1.4bn offset by a $1.9bn profit at the group's financial arm, Ford Credit. But the position improved sharply in the final three months of the year, with automotive operations making a fourth-quarter profit of just over $1bn.

Ford's figures were sufficiently strong to trigger a profit-sharing payment of $450 to each of its 43,000 blue-collar workers in the US. Big sellers included the Ford Fusion family car, the Ford Escape sports utility vehicle and a new version of the Ford Fiesta, launched in late 2008, which has attracted 600,000 customers in Europe and Asia.

Chief financial officer, Lewis Booth, said the company's management was feeling more positive than three months ago: "We're a little more confident that the green shoots are still there and that they haven't shrivelled up."

Ford's ability to ride out the recession in a relatively stable condition has been widely attributed to a prescient decision in late 2006 to mortgage almost all of its assets – including vehicle stocks, factories and the company's famous blue oval logo – to raise $23bn. The carmaker avoided joining GM and Chrysler in bankruptcy last year but now faces a challenge in making higher interest payments on debt than its rivals, which received billions of dollars in aid from the US treasury.

"There's no question that our net debt levels give us a disadvantage against our competitors because of the high interest payments incurred," said Booth.

Ford's shares were slightly down in early trading on Wall Street, losing 4 cents to $11.51. But analysts praised the company's progress.

"Ford is well along the road in their turnaround," John Wolkonowicz, an analyst at IHS Global Insight, told Bloomberg News. "They did it without government help and by themselves. That's giving them the highest consideration and public acceptance they've had in decades."